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Reigning Hollywood Studio Universal Brings 'Wicked' to Movie Summit

Chairman of NBC Universal Studio Group Donna Langley introduced a crop of new titles. VALERIE MACON / AFP
Chairman of NBC Universal Studio Group Donna Langley introduced a crop of new titles. VALERIE MACON / AFP
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Reigning Hollywood Studio Universal Brings 'Wicked' to Movie Summit

Chairman of NBC Universal Studio Group Donna Langley introduced a crop of new titles. VALERIE MACON / AFP
Chairman of NBC Universal Studio Group Donna Langley introduced a crop of new titles. VALERIE MACON / AFP

Universal Pictures was crowned Hollywood's top studio last year, dethroning Disney at the box office for the first time in nearly a decade with a string of mega-hits like "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and the Oscar-winning "Oppenheimer."
So as movie executives gathered at this week's CinemaCon summit in the face of gloomy industry forecasts and a shortage of upcoming major releases, at least one company had plenty to celebrate in Las Vegas, AFP said.
"There's not much more you could ask for than being number one at the box office, and winning the Academy Award for best picture," said chairman Donna Langley during Universal's presentation on Wednesday.
"It would have been easy enough to just sort of drop the mic after that one, right? But it's not enough for us," she said, before introducing a crop of new titles, including "Wicked."
Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jeff Goldblum were brought on stage to promote the starry movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. The first of two films hits theaters in November.
For many big-screen owners, Universal -- thanks to a diverse mix of original movies that does not rely on the struggling superhero genre, and some smart viral marketing campaigns -- offers a potential roadmap to recovery.
They are pinning hopes on "Wicked," and animated films like "Despicable Me 4" and "The Wild Robot," to bring much-needed customers back at a tough moment for the industry.
Overall box office receipts had been slowly recovering each year since the pandemic, but are expected to shrink in 2024.
That is largely due to Hollywood strikes that shuttered film productions for months last year, leaving major gaps in release calendars.
'Fresh'
But while rivals like Disney, Warner and Paramount have struggled for various reasons, these are heady times for Universal.
Just 12 months ago, Langley brought director Christopher Nolan onto the same Las Vegas stage, to introduce for the first time his movie "Oppenheimer."
In an expensive gamble, Universal had lured Nolan from his traditional home at Warner, promising to give his movie about the atomic bomb lavish backing.
"Oppenheimer" grossed nearly $1 billion. Nolan appeared via video on Wednesday to thank theater owners for their role.
Speaking with AFP, Universal's international distribution president Veronika Kwan Vandenberg said it has become clear the industry "can't rely on the films that have traditionally been exceptionally strong in the last 20 years."
Unlike competitors, Universal does not have any of the major superhero franchises that until recently dominated multiplexes.
That had been a stick to beat Universal with in years past. But as rivals' movies like "Madame Web" and "The Marvels" have flopped, a sense that audiences are tired of near-identical superhero fare has grown.
"All these sequels and franchises coming into the marketplace have done very well for a very long time. But we're in a place today where... the audience really wants to know, 'what's different about this?'" said Kwan Vandenberg.
'Barbenheimer'
Social media has become an increasingly key tool for movie studios.
Universal -- along with Warner -- benefited from capturing last summer's viral "Barbenheimer" phenomenon.
Because these trends are typically organic in origin, it is "an incredibly hard thing to do," said Kwan Vandenberg.
But Universal has been more successful than most, with recent examples including a TikTok dance craze for horror film "M3GAN."
A year earlier, the "Gentleminions" trend involved teenagers dressing in suits for trips to watch the new "Minions" film.
In October, a viral trend of stealing posters and promotional cut-outs from theaters for "Five Nights At Freddy's" broke out.
While the trend was extremely frustrating for theater owners, it generated priceless publicity for the Universal movie.
"When we launched the first trailer of 'M3GAN' and we saw how viral the TikTok dance became, we started to lean into events all over the world featuring that," said Kwan Vandenberg.
"It's not something we're necessarily creating. But we are helping to support the awareness and the excitement around it."

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Entertainment

Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce Wedding Celebration to Light Up New York

A worker makes adjustments to a tent outside Madison Square Garden, the reported venue for the wedding celebrations of pop singer Taylor Swift and pro-athlete Travis Kelce, in New York City on July 3, 2026. (AFP)
A worker makes adjustments to a tent outside Madison Square Garden, the reported venue for the wedding celebrations of pop singer Taylor Swift and pro-athlete Travis Kelce, in New York City on July 3, 2026. (AFP)
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Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce Wedding Celebration to Light Up New York

A worker makes adjustments to a tent outside Madison Square Garden, the reported venue for the wedding celebrations of pop singer Taylor Swift and pro-athlete Travis Kelce, in New York City on July 3, 2026. (AFP)
A worker makes adjustments to a tent outside Madison Square Garden, the reported venue for the wedding celebrations of pop singer Taylor Swift and pro-athlete Travis Kelce, in New York City on July 3, 2026. (AFP)

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are widely expected to cap their three-year love story with a New York wedding celebration on Friday, ending months of speculation about the union between the pop megastar and one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history.

While neither has confirmed plans publicly, the New York Post's Page Six reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources, that the two had already wed.

Reuters was unable to confirm that report. But a heavy media presence and barricades around New York's Madison Square Garden fueled expectations of a major event, as passersby on Friday morning stopped to snap photos and videos on their phones.

Workers spent days this week unloading food and scenery into the iconic Manhattan arena, which is in its longest summer stretch without a scheduled concert or sporting event.

Scaffolding with heavy black curtains was in place, preventing crowds from spotting people arriving at the building, and a sign posted by an entrance on Thursday warned anyone entering to maintain strict confidentiality.

Officials including New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have dropped hints that something is ‌coming, and US ‌media have reported the pair plan a reception for 1,000 people at the start of a long ‌holiday weekend ⁠when the nation ⁠celebrates the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence from British rule.

The couple through a publicist on Thursday said they had donated $26 million to several charities in the city and elsewhere this week.

The buzzy event coincides with brutally hot weather. Temperatures were forecast to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) and will likely test the stamina of onlookers hoping to catch a glimpse of the celebrity couple or their famous guests.

'ROYAL WEDDING'

Alison Walsh stopped with her 11-year-old daughter — one of the singer's fans — on the West 31st Street side of the arena to peer through police-lined barricades at a large white tent.

"When we heard this was going down, we wanted to be here. It is the closest thing to a royal wedding in the US," said the 46-year-old Walsh, who was visiting from Connecticut and is also a Swift fan.

The ⁠couple's love story began in 2023 when Kelce tried unsuccessfully to meet Swift backstage at one of her ‌concerts, but succeeded in capturing her attention and warming her heart by recounting his disappointment on a ‌podcast.

As the relationship grew, they appeared publicly together at her concerts, his Kansas City Chiefs games and on "Saturday Night Live," leading to an August 2025 engagement announcement on Instagram ‌that read "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married."

One of the most successful musicians of all time, Swift has won 14 Grammy Awards and shattered records with a global concert tour that made her a billionaire.

Kelce, one of the National Football League's best-known players, helped the Kansas City Chiefs win three Super Bowls alongside star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He also co-hosts the popular sports and pop ‌culture podcast "New Heights."

RECORD-SETTING CAREER

In June, Swift was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, 20 years after her first hit single.

Beginning in country music before finding pop megastardom, Swift has won an unparalleled four Grammy ⁠Album of the Year awards. And her ⁠latest, "The Life of a Showgirl," sold more copies than any other album in its first week.

Kelce first tried to meet Swift after she performed at Kansas City, Missouri's Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Chiefs, as part of her Eras Tour, a retrospective of her two-decade career.

He failed to make it through security and said on his podcast that he was "a little butthurt" he did not get the chance to meet Swift and give her a friendship bracelet bearing his phone number.

Swift was charmed, recounting on a later "New Heights" episode that the gesture reminded her of "an '80s John Hughes movie, and he was just like, standing outside of my window with a boombox and being like, 'I want to date you.'"

She said she thought, "If this guy isn't crazy, which is a big if, this is sort of what I've been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager."

Entertainment

‘Not Easy, but Not Impossible’: Iraq’s Film Industry Sees Slow Revival

Street vendors gather outside the faded facade of the Granada Cinema, an early 1940s landmark, in the Bab al-Sharqi district of central Baghdad on May 26, 2026. (AFP)
Street vendors gather outside the faded facade of the Granada Cinema, an early 1940s landmark, in the Bab al-Sharqi district of central Baghdad on May 26, 2026. (AFP)
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‘Not Easy, but Not Impossible’: Iraq’s Film Industry Sees Slow Revival

Street vendors gather outside the faded facade of the Granada Cinema, an early 1940s landmark, in the Bab al-Sharqi district of central Baghdad on May 26, 2026. (AFP)
Street vendors gather outside the faded facade of the Granada Cinema, an early 1940s landmark, in the Bab al-Sharqi district of central Baghdad on May 26, 2026. (AFP)

In the heart of old Baghdad, legendary movie theaters stand abandoned and shrouded in dust, bearing witness to Iraq's once-vibrant cultural scene.

A few kilometers away, director Ali al-Bayati oversees his camera operators as they adjust their lenses for a scene in his upcoming horror film, which he hopes to showcase internationally as a new generation of Iraqi filmmakers drives an industry comeback.

Momentum is building, bolstered by recent international recognition for the Iraqi film "The President's Cake", which captures life under crippling sanctions during Saddam Hussein's rule.

"Reviving the cinema sector in Iraq is not easy, but it is not impossible either," Bayati told AFP.

For decades, Iraq's cultural and cinematic scenes flourished.

Film production in Iraq began in the 1940s -- notably with titles co-produced with Egypt -- reaching its peak in the 1950s.

Among the most celebrated productions of that era was Kameran Hosni's film "Said Effendi" (1956), a work recently restored as part of the Iraqi Cinematheque project supported by France, and screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025.

But then everything changed.

With Saddam Hussein's rise to power in the 1970s, cinema became a propaganda tool.

This was followed by decades of war, sectarian strife and an extremist insurgency after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Hussein, ultimately snuffing out the golden age of Iraqi cinema.

Baghdad's old movie theaters that once drew film enthusiasts are now barely standing, with their faded walls, old doors and broken signs.

Dilapidated shops crowd the entrance to the Granada Cinema, with clothes hanging directly on the street. Other theaters have been repurposed as warehouses, with a few old movie posters still clinging to their walls.

- The old and the new -

In recent years, a fragile stability has begun to revive Iraqis' appetite for entertainment and returned focus to Baghdad's cultural scene.

Authorities seized the opportunity last year, launching an initiative to support 58 film projects.

But the funding pool is just four million dollars, an amount that would fund only a single project in other countries, said Wareth Kwaish of the government-led initiative.

Authorities are also working to recover Iraq's historic cinema archive in the country and abroad.

And Baghdad has signed cinematic cooperation agreements with France to support its film industry.

Producer Haider Ibrahim inspects a film reel at the National Centre for Archives and Iraqi Memory in Baghdad on June 14, 2026. (AFP)

Still, the industry remains short on funding and support, making every production a gamble.

Filmmakers rely on small grants, said Bayati, who hopes to market his movie in the US and European countries and is among those who benefited from government funding.

The key for him is gaining the trust of Iraqi audiences to "generate revenues that would lead to sustainability in work and production", he said.

Most Iraqi moviegoers today frequent multi-screen theaters in shopping malls where Hollywood and Egyptian movies dominate the screens, rather than the classic venues.

Syrian filmmaker Abdulhadi al-Rakeb, who made a documentary about Iraq's old movie theaters, said their closure has led to "the disappearance of a culture of watching films in theaters and, as a result, a decline in the very idea of filmmaking".

- 'Cautiously optimistic' -

Recently, "The President's Cake", the Iraqi film that won a prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival last year, finally started screening in Iraq.

The movie follows the story of a young girl selected to bake a cake for Saddam's birthday at a time when sanctions made it almost impossible to find the ingredients.

Although the movie was shot in Iraq, the production faced many challenges.

Director Hasan Hadi said a shortage of experienced Iraqi film crews forced him to bring in European professionals.

"The local crew were not aware of international standards," and the foreign crew were unfamiliar with the local cultural context, which created "more problems for us", he said.

According to Hadi, the lack of local crews is one of several reasons Iraqi filmmakers have been unable to work in their own country.

He believes the sector needs workshops to develop local talent, increased funding and better overall organization.

"I am cautiously optimistic," Hadi said.

"There are more people who want to tell their stories and make films, but not enough resources."

Entertainment

Welcome to New York: City Buzzes for Likely Taylor Swift Wedding Weekend

A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan
A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan
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Welcome to New York: City Buzzes for Likely Taylor Swift Wedding Weekend

A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan
A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan

Fencing is up, streets are closed and all signs point to a lavish wedding for megastars Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in New York City this weekend.

At Madison Square Garden, workers have been hauling in food and decor to make the whole place shimmer.

News cameras captured foliage, a box marked "garden party" and another labeled lobster meat. The venue's public calendar shows no events scheduled till Tuesday - a rare six-day stretch in a summer otherwise packed with concerts, with just the occasional night unbooked.

Several media outlets reported that Swift and Kelce will hold a 100-person event at the sports arena on Thursday followed by a larger celebration in front of 1,000 people on Friday.

The pop superstar and National Football League player have not confirmed when and where they will marry, and ⁠Swift's publicist has ⁠not responded to requests from Reuters for comment.

New York City already was abuzz with major happenings over the US Independence Day weekend. Tall ships will sail into New York Harbor to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on Saturday, and a World Cup soccer match is set for Sunday in nearby New Jersey.

On Wednesday, onlookers stopped to watch a Russian couple of daredevils who climbed to the top of the Empire State building and unfurled a banner urging world peace.

The big events ⁠coincide with high temperatures that prompted city officials to declare a heat emergency. When asked about a potential Swift wedding, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani used the moment to urge people to stay indoors to protect themselves from the extreme weather.

“If you happen to be getting married at MSG, you will be staying inside and staying cool, and I think it’s a good example to set for the city at large,” he told reporters earlier this week.

Reuters confirmed that an event planning company had applied for a permit to close the streets around the Garden from Thursday through mid-day Saturday. Fencing was being erected around the venue's entrances this week.

The venue sits above a major commuter hub, and passersby on Wednesday stopped to watch the preparations.

Hundreds of local law enforcement officers are expected to patrol the area, the New ⁠York Times reported, ⁠citing a memo titled “Taylor Swift wedding at Madison Square Garden.”

New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that officers were "tracking" an event at the Garden on Friday night and "will, of course, have a detail in place."

A department spokesperson did not respond to a Reuters request for additional information.

The union of the "Love Story" singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end, dubbed "America's royal wedding," is one of the most anticipated celebrity weddings of the century.

Speculation has intensified since the couple announced their engagement in August following a public courtship that enchanted fans.

Cameras caught Swift cheering on Kelce at Chiefs games and followed him as he jetted around the world to her concerts.

A star-studded crowd is expected, given Swift's roster of celebrity friends, including Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Emma Stone and Gigi Hadid.

In one TV interview, Swift joked that she would invite "anyone that I've ever talked to." On the groom's side, Chiefs coach Andy Reid was photographed being fitted for a tuxedo.